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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23409445">Black as Blood</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hot_Mild_Sweet_n_Salty/pseuds/Hot_Mild_Sweet_n_Salty'>Hot_Mild_Sweet_n_Salty</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>ShikaSaku Hanami 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>ANBU Sakura, ANBU Shikamaru, Established Relationship, F/M, Failed Mission, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Sakura cries, Shikamaru comforts her, not graphic, showering, some description of blood and injury</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 07:49:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>731</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23409445</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hot_Mild_Sweet_n_Salty/pseuds/Hot_Mild_Sweet_n_Salty</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Three failed missions was still three too many failures.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Haruno Sakura/Nara Shikamaru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>ShikaSaku Hanami 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1678945</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>ShikaSaku Hanami 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Black as Blood</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>mmmmmmmm its three am, so its technically the next day, BUT I had an emergency today, so I wasn't able t write until now. Either way, I hope you enjoy it.</p><p>Prompt Four- Drip, Drip, Drip (Our Blood)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sakura was never a fan of the dark. Even so, she was a kunoichi, a killer, and that meant that she had to become the darkness she despised so very much. At least, when the heavy mask settled over her face, sharpening her senses to the razor edge of a katana, she wasn’t alone. Shikamaru always had her back.</p><p>They were admitted to ANBU together, one summers day long ago. She remembered it so clearly. It was the day she realized she loved him.</p><p>They had been training together for months, Shikamaru having been the one to vouch her for the jonin exam, and then her partner (they always had to sign up in pairs, unless it was a special circumstance) for the black ops. Their masks were twins, the only separating identifier being the color of the paint lining the eye slits and decorating the cheeks. </p><p>Shikamaru had his first kill behind that mask. Despite being a jonin for almost two years, he still was able to skip past the bloody half of the job. Sakura remembered squeezing his shoulder while he retched in the bushes just outside of Konoha. She knew the feeling. <br/>
When they took the tests, Sakura could admit she had almost died. If it weren’t for Shikamaru’s big brain and her impeccable chakra control, there was no saying how close they came to bleeding out on the arena floor, blood mingling as it soaked into the sand. </p><p>ANBU brought them closer than anything or anyone else. During work, they were shadows, poised to strike. Out of work, they were best friends, soon to be lovers. Ino bugged them incessantly, constantly trying to make them go out with her and Sai every opportunity she had. They never had the heart to tell her they saw enough of Sai on missions. </p><p>It was their skills that made them so perfect for assassinations like this. A crime lord on the outskirts of fire country, dealing in everything from drugs to human sex trafficking. The plan was to have Sakura get “kidnapped” and take out the base. Shikamaru would pose as a member of the guard, and use the chaos to sneak in and take out the target.</p><p>There were two problems. The first one, unaccounted for until it was too late, was that there was a mole in the village. The second, more obvious problem, was that the boss had taken a liking to Sakura’s pink hair. </p><p>They barely made it out. The river led them home. </p><p>The sound of it was deafening, the rushing water hiding the sound of blood running down Sakura’s back, pattering from Shikamaru’s leg. Sakura would have healed them, if it weren’t for the fact that she was running on fumes. </p><p>Sakura flinched, broken from her daze when the light scratch of a soapy loofa ran over the large gash in her back. Shikamaru stood behind her, blocking her fro the spray of the shower as he tenderly scrubbed the blood from her skin. His skin was already blood-free, having been wiped down by Sakura as she went on autopilot.</p><p>“It’s okay, Sakura,” He murmured, drawing her closer. “We’re home. You’re safe, I promise.” She relaxed into his touch, sighing gently. His skin was hot, hotter than the shower, hotter than the sudden rage she felt coiling in her gut, igniting embers within her chest. </p><p>They had failed. Again. </p><p>“’Maru,” she gasped. Her arms curled around her torso protectively. She wasn’t trying to keep herself safe. She was keeping Shikamaru safe from the inferno swirling through her body. “We <em>fucked up</em>,” she sobbed. </p><p>Shikamaru wrapped his arms around her, and as one, they slid to the floor of the shower, paying no mind as the water got colder. The burning shame of botching another mission (it was only their third one in the four years they had been black ops, but three was still three too many failures) kept them warm enough. </p><p>Shikamaru rocked them back and forth, tightening his arms with each new wave of sobs released from Sakura’s chest. He would deny the few of his own that mingled with the pelting water.</p><p>“We <em>lived</em>.” </p><p>Sakura was right. They had fucked up, failed another mission. They would likely have their S-ranks rescinded for a month as punishment. But Shikamaru was also right. </p><p>They made it out alive, and that was what mattered. </p>
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